a

was just as blinding as those headlight

ressed to my flat stomach, reaching for the child who had been there one moment and gone the next. The crash took everything. My son. My future. The woma

seen tonight. Another failed audition, another room full of faces pretending they didn't recognize me. I'd spotted the back exit earlier-a service corridor that let out onto t

lash of red lipstick, wide and predatory. She had the kind of

ty' for you," she said, her voi

lly involved me serving drinks at some producer's

my tone flat. Five years of this

d of the hall. A utility closet. "Seraphina is hosting a private event her

stomach. Seraphina Hicks was no longer just my adopted sister. She was a bona

"I'm not interest

urity guards materialized behind her, blocking my exit. "Miss Hicks felt you needed

e years, she had been systematically poisoning my care

s. They were rough, efficient. They shoved me tow

or slammed shut behind me, the lock

the wood. It didn't budge. I

f cheap liquor, and discarded decorations. The air smelled of

icked a stack of cardboard b

the corner of the r

p intake of breath,

d against my rib

alled out, my voic

eathing had sto

phone, turning on the flashlight. A bright, n

the room, over dusty shel

all figure huddled beh

nd dark they seemed to swallow the light. He was dressed in expensive-looking clothes-a tiny blazer and jeans-but they wer

tunned confusion. What was a child

ng directly in his face. I softened my voice,

kay? How did yo

his head. His small face was pale, his lips pressed into a thin, tight

inched, shrinking further into the sh

hands in a gesture of surrender. "I

the terror in his eyes see

ime soon. I slid down the wall opposite him, sitting

dark eyes, the stubborn set of his small jaw-that felt strangely familiar. A du

to hold. The child I had lost five yea